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[Switchblade]

Okay, so Episode 1 bungee-jumped out of the victory tree and high-fived every winstick on the way down.

I'm not sure how far through I am, percentage-wise. I just killed the first Antlion Guard I've seen in the game, after it totalled a Combine APC.

Outstanding moments:

#1: "We'll see about that."

#2: "Hey, don't worry! He's a robot, he's done the math...... you did do the math, right?"

#3: Dodging plasma balls in the citadel reactor

#4: The stalker train

#5: the first encounter with a "zombine", and then the one immediately after it where the music kicks in with this electronic scream right at the moment it charges. Winstick.

#6: The elevator. difficult, scary, but FUN

Thus far, I think it comes out superior to Half-Life 2. Alyx's presence makes a real difference.

[Melodic]

SPOILERS BELOW:



















Unfortunately Switchblade, you're more than half-way through Episode 1, and the length of the expansion has been the main point of attack for critics and gamers. I, however, feel that my $20 was well-paid, as the return to HL2 gameplay, not to mention useful insight into the storyline, more than made up for the relative shortness of it.

It is incredibly refreshing to return to Half-Life 2, and, while E1 proved to be more taxing on my computer than HL2 (which is odd, as the very small changes made to E1 should not affect performance much), it also proved to be every bit as entertaining. I think E1 was perfect for me because it was exactly what I wanted: more HL2.

Some highlights from my time with HL2:E1

The Stalker train (second'd, while this isn't technically gameplay, it was a creepy, informative and utterly chaotic plot-forwarder that I enjoyed immensely)

Zombine/flashlight wars in the underground (more varieties of brain-eating undead are always appreciated)

The elevator (easily my most enjoyable moment, I would definitely agree. I stockpiled resources by the elevator lift before beginning the zombie sequence, and managed to hold them off fairly effectively with flares for Alyx, flashlight once the flairs were gone, and the occasional shotgun burst)

Taking citizens to the train depot in groups (I took about 15 minutes to get all the items from the surrounding area and transporting them to a single location: this was my refueling line and let me expend vast amounts of ammo on single targets)

Strider battle (very, very rewarding, and an amazing show of level-design)

Ending cinimatic (just as climactic as the endings to HL1 and HL2)

[Inlander]

While the episode was a hell of a lot of fun to play and beautifully designed in every way, I couldn't help but feel that the whole was somehow less the sum of the parts.  It might just be that I recently replayed Half-Life 2, but I got pretty sick of running around in the same old environments.  Also, I was really hoping I'd come across some of the interesting beasties glimpsed in the Citadel at the end of Half-Life 2, like that thing that looked like a beetle/tank thingummy.  While the "Zombines" were very cool, the Stalkers were a major anti-climax, especially after the teaser that Valve released a month or so ago.  The bit in the train was terrific, yes, but in terms of actual gameplay the Stalkers were never anything more than a mere nuisance.  Also, when herding the refugees at the end I didn't really get a sense of a mass exodus of people from the city: a few groups of two or three people didn't really give me the sense of an entire population fleeing for their lives.  I think it would have worked better if you'd been helping across groups of 10 or 15 people, all the while trying to protect them from the Combine.  Also, the fact that the last wave of Combine were Civil Protection - the easiest of the Combine troops - was a bit odd.

However despite how that all sounds I enjoyed the game immensely.  I knew beforehand that it would only be around 6 hours of gameplay tops, so I wasn't too disappointed on that front.  The gameplay within the episode was terrific - especially the run through the hospital, but I'm just a sucker for any game that says "here's a shitload of shotgun ammo, here's a shitload of zombies.  Your turn."  Also, the emotion built into Alyx throughout the episode was fantastic: you have a sense that she's a real human being, not just a cypher.  All things considered, though, I'm looking forward to seeing something that I haven't actually seen before next time around - and on that score, based on the brief trailer at the end of this episode, I'm really looking forward to Episode 2.

[Switchblade]

My good luck that I just got to the strider battle before coming back to this thread. You're right it is pure winstick. Alas, I've only had one go at it thus far, a go that resulted in my getting gunned down by a pair of Combine while trying to clear a hopper mine out of the way.

but yeah, here's me expecting to just finish cranking that door open, pop through, deal with some stuff and go from there, but then STOMP STOMP STOMP "fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck run away!" ZWWWWOOOMMMMM-BOOM!

I'ma go take anoter shot at it now

EDIT: And it is done.

That ending sequence is some serious cool.

EDIT AGAIN:

I actually quite like that it was shorter. Half-Life 2 was like the grand feature-length premier episode, and now the episodes themselves can just go ahead and condense everything that made the first game cool down into a much shorter space of time, so you wind up with condensed awesome in new combinations. The practical upshot too is that producing each new episode will take a lot less of Valve's time and effort than producing a whole new game, as they're effectively sticking with the same engine. We should see a relatively high turnover rate, I think.

I also have something to really look forward to on this front, as I'll be building a new PC shortly - my present one makes most everything released from about 2004 onwards look a little shoddy, whereas the one I'm building is going to be my "l337 sk337, j0" power gaming rig, designed to squeeze the best graphical quality out of Oblivion and then some. I'll be replaying Episode 1 after I've put it all together so as to see it in action on something other than the lowest possible graphical quality.

[Dal]

The new lighting and speculars really make everything super-perty. I highly recommend it

[Jiperlee]

I heard it lasted less than 4 hours. Sounds pretty lame to me.....

I mean, I like my games complete(which is why I hate Halo 2 so much)

[Switchblade]

Well, given that people have completed the first Half-Life game in less than an hour...

Besides which, Episode 1 is complete.... it's just shorter than average. however, it's also cheaper. It's also very very good.

Don't judge a game based on its length, I say.

[Jiperlee]

Well, no Half Life Episode 1 is not complete- theres a reported 2 more episodes....

And Half Life 2 takes about 10 hours to go through for me.....so to pay $20 USD for a mere couple more hours......well.....pffttt....

[Switchblade]

Well, no Half Life Episode 1 is not complete- theres a reported 2 more episodes....

You've obviously never heard the term "cliff-hanger ending"

And Half Life 2 takes about 10 hours to go through for me.....so to pay $20 USD for a mere couple more hours......well.....pffttt....

Entirely worth it, as one tight-fisted gamer to another. It may be shorter, but it's all top-flight stuff, exquisitely balanced and scripted, and densely packed with a LOT of cool stuff.

Btw, it took me about 4 hours.

[Jiperlee]

Yea, well, I'd rather have one long enjoyable expirence than short expirences separated by months or years(*glares at Halo 2 again*)- I'll wait for episode 3.

[Default.mp3]

Yea, well, I'd rather have one long enjoyable expirence than short expirences separated by months or years(*glares at Halo 2 again*)- I'll wait for episode 3.

You'll be waiting awhile, since it'll be release next year during the summer (if I recall correctly).

I'm wondering just how freeform Ep. 2 is gonna be.